Oatman retains Old West feel

Here, burros and history put on a show

OATMAN, Ariz. - A century ago, prospector Jose Jerez was searching for his strayed burros in the hills of northwest Arizona when he accidentally discovered gold.

Jerez's find led to a boom that left the area near Kingman dotted with mining towns. But it was not a lasting prosperity.

All that remains today of the thriving communities are a few wooden shacks and heaps of rubble here and there.

Except for one.

A small, dusty town called Oatman is the lone survivor and a reminder of Mohave County's gold-mining boom, which lasted until the mid-1930s.

Oatman now has only 150 residents and is barely four blocks long, but its Old West charm coupled with a laid-back attitude is attracting about 500,000 visitors a year.

The town, founded about 1906, is hidden in the harsh desert of the Black Mountains about 28 miles from Kingman along Route 66.

The locals, some of them virtual historians when it comes to the town's past, like to point out that long before Interstate 40 there was Route 66, and even before that there was Oatman with its gold pouring out of the surrounding mountains.

At its height in the late 1920s, Oatman had about 10,000 residents, mostly miners. It also had modern conveniences, such as a swimming pool, service stations and a hospital. Oatman locals claim the town had the first movie theater in the state.

They also brag that in 1939, Hollywood's Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their wedding night here.

Oatman declined after I-40 was built in 1951 and at one point the residents were as few as 25. It looked like the town would die.

The mining community re-emerged as a tourist destination after How the West Was Won was filmed here in 1962.

During the winter season from October to April more than 1,000 weekend tourists watch staged gunfights along main street. They tour Goldroad Mine, which opened in 1900 after Jerez's discovery.

They can also feed the wild burros that still wander through the streets as reminders of the town's onetime livelihood. The animals are the descendants of domesticated donkeys that escaped or were released by miners after the federal government closed the last remaining mines in 1942 as nonessential to the war effort.

On hot mornings, when visitors are sparse, the four-legged creatures almost outnumber the two-legged ones.

Tourist authorities and locals says the burros are partly responsible for the town's popularity.

"Where else can you see burros walking down the street in the 1990's?" asks Willa Lucas of the Oatman Chamber of Commerce and owner of the Glory Hole antique store. "Tombstone doesn't have that to offer, Jerome doesn't have that to offer, Bisbee doesn't have that to offer. There's just no other place that has that."

Larry Gier, general manager of Goldroad, says the draw to Oatman is the mystique of being in an Old West mining town.

You also can't ignore the allure of Route 66, Gier adds.

"It becomes kind of convoluted, but one of the things that draw people to Oatman is Route 66," he says. "Route 66 has a real mystique about it."

Tourist Bertrand DeVaux returned to Arizona from Tahiti with his wife and daughter to drive Route 66 from Kingman to Lake Havasu after overlooking the fabled highway five years ago.

He paused in his shopping for Oatman T-shirts to say he liked the town's authentic feel.

"Oatman is very nice because it looks like a real Western city, not a reconstructed Mickey Mouse Western city," he says.

What's left of the former mining community is preserved, thanks to the residents, many retired, who have a pride in Oatman that runs as deep as the nearby Colorado River.

Just stroll along the plank sidewalk and among the handful of souvenir stores and four saloons - many containing their original storefronts - and you're bound to meet a few friendly characters.

There is a hotel in town. The Oatman Hotel, built in 1902 and refurbished in 1924 following a fire, is listed on the National Historic Building Registry. It has 10 rooms available for a $35 donation for a night's stay - except for the Clark Gable room, where it's said the actor and Lombard slept on their wedding night. That one costs $55.

The Oatman Hotel bar and restaurant and the Mission Inn are the only two public places to dine in town.

Kevin Enright, head of the local fire department and occasional tour guide, insists it takes him one hour to walk across town because he stops to chat with everyone along the way.

"There's a real personal interaction most of us have with the tourists around here," says Enright, who moved to Oatman eight years ago to open an Indian jewelry store.

Rod "Outlaw Willie" Hall moved here from California with his wife eight years ago after visiting the town every time the couple vacationed in Laughlin.

"Oatman is unique in its history. When it was booming it was the hub of Arizona," says Hall, owner of Outlaw Willie's Gold Mine Emporium and president of the gunfighters association.

"There's not a lot of towns like this left."

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Oatman is 211 miles northwest of Phoenix. Take U.S. 93 to Kingman, then go southwest on Historic Route 66 (Oatman Road) to Oatman.

WHAT TO DO: Tour the Gold Road Mine (departs every 30 minutes). Call for ticket prices. 1-(928)-768-1600. Buy a bag of carrots and feed the burros. They're descendants of the burros that once carried miners to their claims and settlers over the mountains. Watch the staged gunfights on weekends and ask the locals about Oddie.

MORE INFO: The phone number for the Oatman Chamber of Commerce is (928) 768-6222; the number for the Oatman Hotel is (928) 768-4408. Visitor Info: 1-928-524-3048.